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VIP Coders trained in Cyber-Security

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GQEBERHA – While it has been reported that one in every 200 coders are blind or visually impaired globally, the massive digital divide in South Africa is gradually starting to shrink for visually impaired youth due to innovative, inclusive education initiatives.

While the Bona Africa programme, in collaboration with SADTU, has this year started with Tactile Coding Workshops – where coding concepts are introduced to blind and visually impaired youth and their teachers – vocational training has also been offered to learners who have completed their schooling.

Blind and visually impaired students from across South Africa attend the Hein Wagner Academy in Worcester in the Western Cape. Cyber Security Trainer and Coordinator Len Viljoen said through various industry collaborations, the Academy is offering a Cyber Security Programme which was piloted in 2020.

“Because of the rise of technology and the constant threat of cyber-attacks, the need for cyber security experts and analysts have increased exponentially. We firmly believe that with the right training and education, visually impaired individuals can play their part in the war against cyber-crime,” said Viljoen.

Depending on the learnership sponsor, the programme usually consists of two components. Firstly, a national qualification in the form of a NQF level certification. Secondly, the academy also offers an international component consisting of various certifications including but not limited to CompTia A+, Network+ and Security+, as well as certifications from Cisco.

“We are a training provider for both CompTia and Cisco and are also going to start AWS training. This ensures that our students get up-to-date, relevant training and through earning these industry grade certifications, people will start to realise that visually impaired individuals need to be included when job opportunities are presented.”

Ncebakazi Tyalisi, 31, who is originally from the small village of Willowvale in the Eastern Cape, joined the Hein Wagner Academy in the hope of one day pursuing a career in IT and cyber-security.

“The programme has been great, I especially enjoyed it when it started. The journey is a rollercoaster but fulfilling at the same time. I find the programme very empowering personally and professionally, and especially for me being a rural blind girl with no prior background in IT. It gives a sense of hope for the future and also a sense of worth knowing that I am being trained to excel in a field which is dominated by the sighted world,” said Tyalisi.

She described the field of cyber-security as rewarding, in-demand and constantly evolving with a range of diverse roles she hopes to pursue after her studies.

While the Hein Wagner Academy only opened in 2019, the department for career development of the Pioneer School – its predecessor – has offered programming and coding training since the 1990’s.

Viljoen welcomed Tangible Africa’s efforts to make coding training available at primary and high school level to help prepare visually impaired students for careers in the IT field.

Bona Africa, a partnership between Tangible Africa and Bona uBuntu, has recently trained teachers from schools for the visually impaired across all nine provinces during a series of workshops. During these workshops the teachers were equipped with tactile tools and the TANKS Coding App to introduce learners to the wonderful world of coding.

“The earlier any person can be introduced to IT-related concepts, especially coding, the better. This is no different for visually impaired people. If the groundwork is laid, there are no limit to the heights these individuals can achieve,” said Viljoen.

Viljoen explains that Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs) and blind students use different strategies to learn coding. “As with any group of students, learning concepts and strategies differs from person-to-person. In the case of visually impaired students, there has to be a big focus on detail. A sighted person can review code and spot errors quickly. A visually impaired student has to review their code line-by-line, word-for-word and character-for-character. Some visual concepts have to be explained in such a way that someone with no or limited vision can understand it.”

Tangible Africa Founder and Head of the Department and Associate Professor at the Nelson Mandela University Computing Sciences Department, Prof Jean Greyling, welcomed the exciting vocational opportunities for VIPs and blind youth in South Africa.

“Inclusive education is an important objective of Tangible Africa. Tangible Africa is a coding movement spreading coding skills to as many people as possible across the continent, which now includes visually impaired and blind youth due to our collaboration with Bona uBuntu and SADTU. We are excited to see the number of blind and visually impaired coders and programmers grow in numbers over the next few years in South Africa,” said Greyling.

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